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wild flowers on septic mound?

20 years ago

I'm relatively new to New England and we have a septic mound that takes up roughly 2/3 of our yard. 2 sides of the mound slope right down to the property line fences. On a third side there's about a 5 foot wide level path between the fence and the bottom of the mound slope. These three sides are too steep to mow and last year just grew wild with overgrown grass and weeds. The side of the mound facing the house was given a more gentle slope and ends about 15-20 feet from the house. We mow that. Over winter and now with spring rains, I'm noticing some erosion on all sides. We are near a lake and the ground in our area tends to be soft and wet-thus the need for the mound.

Both for asthetics and to discourage erosion, I'm planning to sow wildflower seed on the three steeper sides of the mound soon. What do I need to do? I'm assuming I need to get a tiller (like a Weasel tool) and tear up and rake up all the existing dead grass? (It hasn't really come back yet since winter just ended). Then can I just spread the seed and rake over it? Oh, I'm also planning to put black garden edging between the grassy area and the wild flower fields. Also, is there anything else I need to do with the sides? The ground on the sides is quite soft-especially the steeper sides.

I have never, ever gardened before, (or dealt with septic) so don't worry about any suggestions or advice being too basic. I am a true beginner and know almost nothing about gardening in this part of the country.

Thanks!!

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Comment (1)

joepyeweed
20 years ago
I would not till or disturb the soil. There are dormant weed and grass seeds in the soil that will sprout if you till.

I would like you to realize that the best long term solution is not going to happen overnight. If you plant wildflowers, and do it correctly, it will take about two to three years before it looks like a nice wildflower patch. Patience when working with wildflowers will pay off.

Before you plant anything, You will need to kill what is growing there now, so it doesn't out compete your wildflower seeds. I probably would wait until the existing stuff starts not to be dormant....and then spray it with roundup. Round up works while the plants are actively growing, so if they are dormant right now - its not going to do much ....

A couple weeks after the roundup application, mow any plant residue left very very short... follow the mowing with light raking to scarify the soil, but don't disturb the soil too much. After mowing and raking, then apply a quality wildflower septic mix from a reputable native plant nursery. Do not buy a can of seeds from a big box retail or hardware store. Reputable native plant nurseries have a pre made mix specifically for septic systems.

You may want to roll the seed to get good soil contact but that would be hard on the side slopes. So you can probably skip that part.

I would cover the seed, especially on the side slopes with an erosion control blanket like North American Green S150. The blanket gets tacked into the soil and will degrade over time. The blanket will hold the soil on your side slopes until the time that your wildflowers get established. The blanket also acts as a mulch, preventing windborn weed seeds from getting established, and it helps moderate soil moisture and temperature which will help your seeds germinate.

You may want to water it a few times. Do not expect any significant growth the first year. In fact I would probably keep it weed wacked to about six inches or so, the first growing seasons to keep anything from going to seed. It helps keep weeds from multiplying and it doesn't hurt the wildflowers. I just use a mower set real high, but it would be hard to do that on a slope.

good luck.
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